Abstract
Most Cypripedium species are specialized orchids pollinated by, in a broad sense, bees or flies. Here we present the first evidence that a slipper orchid, Cypripedium flavum, is pollinated by both bees and flies, i.e., bumblebees and blowflies. Artificial pollination experiments demonstrated that the flowers of C. flavum are self-compatible, but need pollen vectors for successful reproduction. Field observations detected 25 insects visiting the flowers, and 14 of these insects entered into the labellum of the flowers, but only female bumblebees, Bombus hypnorum, B. remotus, and the blowfly Calliphora vomitoria exited of the labellum with pollen smears of C. flavum. The floral functional morphology of C. flavum appears to be more suited to bumblebees than to blowflies. The bumblebees are more efficient pollinators of the orchid, but blowflies are more frequent visitors, so they pollinated more flowers despite being less efficient.
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Acknowledgments
This paper was funded by the National Nature Science Foundation of China (30900183), and supported by the Co-researching Station of Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences and Huanglong Administration of National Scenic Spots, Sichuan, China. We would like to thank Prof. Amots Dafni of the Laboratory of Pollination Ecology, Institute of Evolution, University of Haifa, Israel, for his helpful advice and manuscript improvement, Dr. Xu Huanli of Chinese Agriculture University for identification of insects, and Prof. Chen Huajun of Beijing Forestry University for helping analyze the floral fragrance.
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Zheng, G., Li, P., Pemberton, R. et al. Mixed bumblebee and blowfly pollination of Cypripedium flavum (Orchidaceae) in Sichuan, China. Ecol Res 26, 453–459 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11284-010-0798-8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11284-010-0798-8